One-way chain is an important component of aircraft tie-downs used to secure portions of the undercarriage of an aircraft to the deck of an aircraft carrier or, perhaps, to the surface of an air field or other finished surface where such an airplane might be secured. The tie-downs are particularly important to prevent the loss or damage of an aircraft either to strong gusts of wind or, perhaps, to unusually large waves that occasionally sweep over the deck of an aircraft carrier in high seas, when aircraft are occasionally kept on the upper deck adjacent to the landing surface. In view of the extremely high cost of such aircraft, these tie-downs are an important maintenance accessory.
The tie-down devices that employ one-way chain generally included a screw-type binder mechanism having a seat for a one-way chain link at one end and a series of secured elements culminating in a securing hook at the other end. To secure an aircraft with the tie-down, the hook at one end of the screw-type binder mechanism is secured to the aircraft and a one-way chain that, subsequently, will be secured at the other end of the binder mechanism in the one-way seat for the one-way chain link, is then secured with a hook at the far end of the chain to a recessed anchor point or deck anchor on the deck of the aircraft carrier or airfield tarmac. After the claim is secured to the recessed anchor point, a link of the one-way chain is then chosen for insertion into the binder seat and the screw collar at the opposite end of the screw-type mechanism is then turned, generally clockwise, to increase the tension on the chain and eliminate or at least minimize the slack in the tie-down.
One-way chain has been employed as a part of such tie-downs for many years to insure that any link entering the seat of the screw-type binder mechanism is oriented appropriately so that the end of the tie-down secured to the recessed anchor point will pull directly on center with respect to the hook at the binder mechanism end of the tie-down that is secured to the undercarriage of the aircraft, so as to minimize the likelihood of failure of the tie-down. One-way chain has been made in the past by stamping each of the links of a welded chain at one end of the chain so that the stamped links will be pinched to form “nibs” on two sides of one end of the respective welded links so as to expand the clearance width of each of the respective ends of the oblong welded links of such a one-way chain. It will be appreciated, however, that the nibs (see FIGS. 3 and 4 of the present drawings showing such links), created by known stamping methods, are not as substantial as a thickness of the link itself. For that reason, concerns have been raised regarding the usefulness of known one-way chain having such “stamped” links.
In particular, it has been suggested that because the “nibs” are not as substantial as the formed wire making up each of the respective welded links, there may be a greater chance that the nibs will wear away over time and permit the “wrong” end, i.e. the end intended to have the greater clearance requirement, of a link of the known one-way chain to fit into the one-way seat of the screw-type binder mechanism, leading to failure to the one-way tie-down. For this reason, new methods of making a better one-way chain are needed.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing, therefore, that known methods of making one-way chain present problems that are in need of solutions. It also will be appreciated that further enhancements of the cost effectiveness of the present invention will provide needed efficiencies for consumers and manufacturers alike. The present invention provides simple and reliable solutions to these and other problems.